We carried out a comprehensive ratings inspection at Jean Allen, Home Instead Senior Care on 18 October, 2016. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice so that we could be sure that someone from the service would be there to greet us.

Home Instead Senior Care is a domiciliary care provider based in Frinton-On-Sea, providing services within this locality and nearby areas. The service is part of a franchise that delivers care to people in many areas of the United Kingdom. They provide a variety of care and support to people in their own homes, including supporting people with personal care needs, shopping, cooking, and companionship.

The service has a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

During this inspection the service has been rated as Good, with some outstanding features and has an overall rating of Good.

People using the service could be assured that staff had been through a rigorous employment process and had been safely recruited. People using the service could be confident that staff had been trained to meet their needs in a timely way. Comprehensive risk assessments clearly identified to staff how to manage people’s risks whilst promoting choice and independence.

Good quality assurance systems were in place to ensure that staff adhered to excellent care practices, such as spot checks, care note audits, satisfaction surveys and care reviews.

People who used the service described care staff and managers as kind and caring. Staff knew people’s individual, diverse cultural, religious and gender needs and preferences. Rotas were organised so that people received care from staff that they had been able to develop positive relationships with.

There were excellent communication systems in place with all levels of care staff and the registered manager and management team communicated appropriately with other health and social care professionals and organisations to ensure that people received care packages that were person centred and robust.

Robust governance systems ensured that the quality of care provided was safe, effective and responsive to people’s needs.

As part of our inspection we spoke with three people receiving support from the service and three relatives of people using the service. The people we spoke with were all very complimentary about the care and support they received. They told us that staff seemed well trained, were always punctual and stayed the agreed time. They appreciated that new care workers were always introduced to them before starting work in their home. One person receiving a service told us: “They provide care in the way that I like. I’ve not had any concerns. I would recommend them to anybody.” Relatives told us that Home Instead was a far better agency than any they had used before. They said that there was good continuity, with a small group of staff providing the care and support. One relative told us: “I can’t fault them. For marks out of ten, I would give them eleven.”

As part of our inspection we spoke with two people who were receiving a service from the agency and three relatives of people receiving a service. Both relatives told us that they were, “…very impressed” with Home Instead and would, “…definitely recommend them”.

People and relatives told us that staff were always punctual and stayed the agreed time. They appreciated that new care workers were always introduced to them before starting work in their home. They considered that staff were “…well selected” and “…seem to want to do their job.” They confirmed that there was good continuity, with regular staff providing their support and care.

We found that the agency was meeting the five standards that related to respecting and involving people, health and welfare, safeguarding people, staff training and quality assurance. The management team were committed to providing a high class service and had a good understanding of the areas where improvements could be made.